Second rescued hiker leaves hospital

Kyndall Jack, one of the two hikers who became lost for days in the Cleveland National Forest last week, talks about her ordeal and thanks rescuers during a news conference outside UCI Medical Center in Orange on Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ORANGE – There were times Kyndall Jack said she lost hope during her four days in the wilderness, until rescuers pulled her from the rugged terrain of the Cleveland National Forest and helped bring her out of the hallucinations that filled her time in the wild.

Jack, 18, one of two hikers rescued last week from the wilderness near Holy Jim Canyon, was released from UCI Medical Center on Monday, a day after her fellow hiker, Nicolas Cendoya, was released from Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

More than 100 people, including volunteers and search and rescue teams from around the region, combed the area for signs of the pair for several days.

Cendoya, 19, was discovered severely dehydrated and delirious Wednesday night in an area of thick brush. Rescuers found Jack lying on a rock ledge about 1,500 feet away the next day.

When she arrived at the hospital, she was hypothermic, confused and showing signs of dehydration, a hospital spokesman said. She had no major injuries, but there was some bruising on her lungs.

Jack and Cendoya, classmates from Orange Coast College, embarked on their Easter day hike early in the afternoon, planning to head to the mountaintops to touch low-hanging clouds.

"I'm still in a lot of pain, but it is getting better," Jack said at a Monday afternoon news conference.

Sitting in a wheelchair and joined by family as she recovers from her ordeal, Jack outlined what little she remembered about her time lost in the wilderness.

The two hikers had set out between 1 and 3 p.m., but by nightfall had only half a bottle of water left. Jack said she began having panic attacks and "lost it."

After calling 911 on a dying cellphone, Cendoya previously said, the pair attempted to rush down a hill, at which point one or both of them is believed to have fallen.

A pair of 911 calls made by Cendoya, recordings of which were released Monday, reflected the difficulty the pair had in telling authorities where they were.

Cendoya, sounding out of breath as he tells the 911 operator that he is trying to get through trees and branches on the way up a hill, had difficulty giving precise directions on where he and Jack were in the wilderness before realizing that his cellphone battery was running low.

In a second 911 call, apparently made about 35 minutes later, Cendoya asked whether a helicopter had been sent and was told by the dispatcher that fog had prevented them from sending it out but that deputies were walking the trails and yelling for them.

Later in the second 911 call, Cendoya told the dispatcher that they hadn't made it all the way to Holy Jim Falls, having made a "detour up the mountain" and warned that he "didn't even know if we can make it until the morning" since they were out of water.

Jack said the last thing she remembered that night was "fighting off animals" with Cendoya, although she didn't know what type of animals. As she began to hallucinate, Jack recalled trying to use a lighter to "set the sky on fire."

Kyndall Jack, one of the two hikers who became lost for days in the Cleveland National Forest last week, talks about her ordeal and thanks rescuers during a news conference outside UCI Medical Center in Orange on Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack, one of the two hikers who became lost for taken by wheelchair and flanked by UCI Medical Center staff, security and her parents for a news conference Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack, one of the two hikers rescued from Cleveland National Forest, reveals some of her wounds during a news conference outside UCI Medical Center on Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack talks about her ordeal while she was lost near Holy Jim Canyon and thanks rescuers during a news conference Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack is taken by wheelchair and flanked by hospital staff, security and her parents for a news conference Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Rescued hiker Kyndall Jack talks about her ordeal at a news conference Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack, 18, of Costa Mesa ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF&#128;'S DEPARTMENT
Nicolas Cendoya, 19, of Costa Mesa reacts when the media asks if he'll go hiking again when he speaks to the media Sunday at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. He says he will. His physician, Dr. Stephen DeSantis, is on the left. He and Kyndall Jack were lost in Cleveland National Forest. CINDY YAMANAKA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack's father, Russ Jack, 54, walks back to the Trabuco Flyer parking lot April 2 during the search for the two hikers, who set out on their hike March 31. ISAAC ARJONILLA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack displays some of her wounds Monday during a news conference. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack talks about her ordeal and thanks rescuers Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Kyndall Jack talks about her ordeal and thanks rescuers Monday. JOSHUA SUDOCK, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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